Studio Ghibli’s first fully CGI movie will be ‘Aya and the Witch’

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The next movie from the world renowned Studio Ghibli will be a departure from its previous efforts. The studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki is well-known for its expertise in traditional, hand-drawn animation, and only occasionally uses CGI in its films. The upcoming Aya and the Witch, however, will be animated entirely in 3D. It will premiere on Japanese television, rather than in theaters, when it’s released this winter.

Save for the digitally created (albeit 2D) movie, My Neighbors the Yamadas, CGI has only accounted for about 10 percent of the runtime in previous Ghibli films. The studio usually only uses computer animation as a fallback for scenes that would be particularly difficult or labor intensive to achieve through hand-drawn methods. (All Ghibli films before 1997’s Princess Mononoke are completely animated by hand.) However, after temporarily retiring in 2013, Miyazaki developed an interest in 3D CGI. While the studio’s co-founder isn’t directing this film — his son, Goro, is taking the helm — he is credited as a planner, so his dabbling may have played a part in the decision to forego cel animation. Studio Ghibli has also voiced concerns about its return on investments — traditional animation is slow and costly compared to 3D CGI, so this change could also be a cost-saving measure.

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